Karatsu Kunchi Festival

Japanese: 唐津くんち - からつくんち

This is the autumn festival of Karatsu Shrine in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. It is the name given to the Shinkosai festival and the accompanying float events that are held from November 2nd to 4th after the main shrine festival rituals on October 29th every year. Until 1967, it was held from October 28th to 30th. A total of 14 floats are brought out by each of the parishioner towns. Each one is a large structure on a pedestal, and it is said to have begun in 1819 when a man named Ishizaki Kahei from Katana-cho was inspired by the Gion Festival in Kyoto that he saw on his way back from a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine and made and dedicated a red lion. After that, by 1876, each town had created its own float, such as Nakamachi's Blue Lion in 1824, Zaimokucho's Turtle and Urashima Taro in 1841, and Gofukucho's Minamoto no Yoshitsune's Helmet in 1844. The festival is held on the night of November 2nd (Yoiyama), the 3rd (Shinkosai) and the pulling of the floats accompanying the procession to the temporary shrine, and on the 4th (Kyotoyama) the floats are paraded around the town. On Yoiyama, the floats from each town gather in front of Karatsu Shrine, and on the Shinkosai, the floats procession behind the portable shrine through the old castle town, arriving at Nishinohama Myojindai, the temporary shrine. The floats then parade around each town. On the final day, the floats travel around the city from Karatsu Shrine along the same route as the Shinko Festival, before being deposited at the float exhibition hall adjacent to the shrine in the evening. Both processions are led by the Akajishi float from Katanamachi, and proceed in chronological order of the floats' creation. In 1980, the float event was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan, and in 2016 it was registered as an Intangible World Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as one of the "Yama, Hoko and Yatai Festival Events."

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

佐賀県唐津市の唐津神社の秋祭りで，毎年 10月29日の本殿祭の神事のあと，11月2～4日に行なわれる神幸祭とそれに伴う曳山の行事に対する呼称。1967年までは 10月28～30日に行なわれていた。曳山は氏子各町から全部で 14台出される。いずれも台座の上に大きなつくりものが載ったもので，文政2（1819）年に刀町の石崎嘉兵衛という人物が，伊勢参りの帰路に見た京都の祇園祭に触発されて赤獅子をつくり，奉納したのが始まりとされる。その後，文政7（1824）年に中町の青獅子，天保12（1841）年に材木町のカメと浦島太郎，天保15（1844）年に呉服町の源義経の兜など，1876年までに各町が次々と曳山をつくった。祭りは 11月2日の夜が宵ヤマ，3日が神幸祭とその行列に供奉する曳山の御旅所への曳込み，4日は曳山の町廻りとなっている。宵ヤマでは各町の曳山が唐津神社前に勢ぞろいし，神幸祭では神輿の前後に曳山が行列をなして旧城下町を進み，御旅所である西の浜明神台にいたる。その後，曳山は各町内を巡行する。最終日の町廻りでは，曳山が唐津神社から神幸祭と同じ経路で市内をめぐり，夕刻に神社に隣接する曳山展示場に納まる。いずれの行列も，刀町の赤獅子の曳山を先頭に，曳山の製作年代順に進む。1980年に曳山行事が国の重要無形民俗文化財に指定され，2016年に「山・鉾・屋台行事」の一つとして国際連合教育科学文化機関 UNESCOの世界無形遺産に登録された。

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